I've said it before. My hair is resilient. The other day, I thought back to all the horrible things I've done to my hair and realized... I am REALLY lucky to still have hair. Seriously! I should be bald. Or at least have bald spots or thin hair. But despite my abuse, my hair is still as thick and luscious as it was prior to the abuse. So that you can learn from my hair mistakes, get a good laugh, and in some cases stop worrying so much about damaging your hair (permanently)...I present the TEN DUMBEST THINGS I'VE DONE TO MY HAIR.
#1 Let's start with the obvious. Shall we? (Points above.) Last week, I decided to straighten my hair. I learned about the chasing method and I just had to see how long my hair had grown. So I pulled out my blow dryer and flat iron. Now my mistake was not straightening my hair. 99% of my hair reverted to its original curl. But there is one piece who's curl is not as tight as it should be. You see....when I first turned on my flat iron, it was set to 400 degrees. When I noticed, I turned it down to 350 degrees. I walked away for about a minute. But I was impatient, passed it through my hair and realized it was still too hot. LESSON LEARNED: Don't be impatient when detangling or styling your hair with heat. If you do some damage, bring out the protein and deep conditioners. (It should be fine though. I won't lose any sleep over it.)
#2 Number two has nothing to do with me --at least not directly. (But you'll understand why this makes number 2 later.) While my mom had a relaxer in her hair, she decided to answer the phone. She chatted for who knows how long. When she finally washed it out, her hair came out in clumps. And I let my mother put a relaxer in my hair, AFTER hearing this story....
#3 When I was a little kid, my mom knew how to style my hair. Unfortunately, she used old school methods for detangling. I'll be honest. My hair was washed (maybe) every two months. And when it was washed, it involved me running away from the comb. My mom was vicious! Detangling did not involve loads of leave-in conditioners and oils, like today. We once snapped a blow dryer in half, trying to blow dry my hair. It is a miracle that my hair still grew despite it all.
#4 When I was a little kid, I loved to unravel the ends of my plaits/braid and play with the ends of my hair. When I got my first relaxer for my fifth grade graduation, the hairdresser had a hard time getting my ends straight. She looked at me, and asked, "Did you unravel the ends of your braids?!" Guilty as charged. I probably broke off quite a few strands in the process too.
#5 Remember #2? Here is where it applies. In junior high, my mom once relaxed my hair so badly that all of my roots were burnt to my scalp. [Yes, I should be bald right now.] I went to the school nurse and she looked at my like I had two heads. My solution was to treat the burns with vaseline and slowly pull my hair off my scalp over the course of a few weeks. (Yes, it was painful.) To add insult to injury, burns were part of the usual ritual. I got into the habit of searching my head and picking scabs after every relaxer. My mother and professionals alike burned me religiously until my early 20s.
#6 Imagine me... Age 12. Summer camp every weekday. Swimming every other day. Guess who didn't wash her hair when she got out the pool? ME! Guess who's hair turned red and orange? MINE! Guess who's hair broke off on the right side of her head? MINE. I had to stop relaxing that side of my hair during my eighth grade year. I cornrowed it and did a side swoop with the rest of my hair. It was finally long enough for a relaxer by eighth graduation. LESSONS LEARNED: (1)Don't put relaxers in kids' hair.(2) Don't add trauma to damaged hair. Give it time to rejuvenate.
#7 By sophomore year in college, my hair had grown pretty long...for the first time in my life. (BSL, maybe.) For seven months, I wore braids and extensions (no relaxer). Because I was working at Macy's, I decided to utilize my 20% discount at the salon. Bad idea! Not only did she burn me, but she cut my hair! My BSL hair was cut to my shoulders. I was so livid, I wanted to cry. LESSONS LEARNED: Don't be cheap with your hair.
#8 My senior year in college, I did my usual extensions to accommodate my strenuous dance schedule. When I braided my hair, I decided to try a product that bonded your braids so they wouldn't unravel. When I took out my braids, my ends were see through (my dad cut off 2-3 inches) and my hair was limp. It dried out my hair! To make matters worse, I put highlights on my damaged hair. ( I was stressed out and didn't care at that point.) It took about two years to fully grow out the damaged hair (including a bang by default). I didn't wear braids again for two years sans braid bonder.
Two years later, sans braid bonding nonsense.
My hair two years later-- in grad school. Check out that big hair!
#9 When I worked in Baltimore, I was desperate to find a hairdresser. So I looked up a Dominican salon. Ventured to other (bad) side of town. I couldn't go wrong with a Dominican relaxer and blowout, right? Wrong! Why? Because in Baltimore they believe in relaxing from root to tip. Luckily, all of my hair didn't break off. I stopped wearing relaxers for a while after that. To add insult to injury, my Dominican salon in Delaware got rude. My usual stylist refused to touch my hair. The new stylist pulled and tugged at my hair, saying "Duro, duro, malo, malo" as she proceeded to explain to a guy in the shop how she did such thick and bad hair. I told her multiple times to stop talking about me, because I understood Spanish. My hair was burning so badly that I wanted to run over to the sink and wash it out! Sigh. LESSONS LEARNED: (1) Speak up for yourself in a stylist's chair. (2) Find a stylist you trust, who also appreciates your hair. My stylist marvels at the thickness of my hair. (Too bad she doesn't do natural hair...sigh.)
#10 By far, the dumbest thing I've done to my hair... My trusty hair dryer for years started to fall apart (held together with electrical tape) and even started to smoke. I still used it, telling myself that I need to buy a new one. Meanwhile, my hair was feeling limp and I couldn't figure out why. It couldn't be my trusty hair dryer, could it? I've had it for years! Well, I finally figured out the source. With one pass of the hairdryer, the hair on the back, left side of my head only reached my shoulders. I stood in the mirror asking, "Where is my hair? What happened?" A week later, I was at the hairdresser...cutting off the damaged ends only 10 months before my wedding.
Luckily, I thought it was cute. I loved it so much that I planned to grow it back for the wedding and cut it all off again. And we all know what happened....hello Rihanna cut and the impetus for me to go natural. So in the end... one of the worst things I've done to my hair, was one of the best things I could have done.
Ten months later, I had enough hair for a lavish wedding updo. (Sigh of relief)
Although I've done a lot of of damaging things to my hair, I've obviously done some things rights. Otherwise, I would be bald. So next week, I will follow up with... "TEN BEST THINGS I'VE DONE FOR MY HAIR (AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT")
In the meantime, what are the dumbest things you've done to your hair? Let's discuss.
Learning to embrace our natural beauty can be challenging. Often times we aspire to be what we see. Well, I have decided to challenge myself. In November of 2010, I decided to join many others on the journey to care for and grow my hair in its natural state. After much research, I learned that a lot of the issues I have faced with growing my hair to its optimal length was a due to the harsh chemicals I used to process my hair. What a relief it was to find out that once I changed the way a handled my hair, my hair would change the way it responded to me.
Though Henna is a great benefit for naturals, it also provides the same benefits for chemically treated hair. However, it is important to use body art quality Henna if your hair is chemically treated.
